Sunday, 11 March 2012

GOSH Smokey Eye Quad 02 Brown

I’m always on the lookout for an everyday neutral eyeshadow palette and think I may have found it! This GOSH Smokey Eye Quad is due to hit the shelves in the next week or two and I expect it to be snapped up quickly. Also available in Plum and Grey and I could quite happily use all three!

Why do I love it?

The browns are cool with no red undertone, which I personally find difficult to wear.

The texture is almost matt; there is a slight sheen but zero shimmer or glitter, making it very daytime friendly and much more flattering to the eye area.

It’s reasonably well pigmented but soft enough not to be in your face.

Four colours are plenty for me to work with and I like the small, sturdy packaging.

The price is very reasonable - £7.99 or 11 euros

The arm swatches on the right were taken in direct sunlight and show the extent of the sheen from the satin finish of these shadows.

I did all of these swatches using my fingers and you can see where I’ve rubbed at the shadows quite a bit to lift enough colour to show you. It’s much easier to lift with a brush (I found out later!) and there is some fall out - a bit annoying but fine if you blow or tap it off before applying to your eye. I always do this anyway so it’s no biggy.

When I tried these colours I couldn’t help thinking ‘this is what I want from my Urban Decay Naked Palette 1.’ Much as I love it, I don’t use it that often as most of the colours have so much shimmer. I couldn’t resist checking which shades this might replicate and thought it would be useful to share so that you can imagine how it might compare…

They’re not exact dupes and I should probably have switched the order of Naked and Sidecar, but there’s not a massive difference. Urban Decay has just as much fallout, if not more, on swatching… it looks a lot more pigmented here and while it is a bit, I think that’s partly the angle. Do I think the GOSH palette is more useful? Let’s just say I gave my Naked Palette to my sister the day I received the GOSH.

A basic neutral toned everyday palette isn’t exactly ground breaking, but to me it’s actually quite exciting when I’ve struggled so much to find one! Even the gorgeous new Bobbi Brown nude palette had too much shine for my liking.

Here are the GOSH Smokey Eye shades applied in flash and natural light… besides mascara I used only the palette for this look. I lined my eyes with the darkest shade, dampened (using mac eyeliner brush) and used the 3rd shade on my brows (which are a mess after they were unevenly waxed last week, grr!).

What do you think of the GOSH Smokey Eye Quad? It will be available exclusively at Superdrug in the UK and the launch date has been confirmed as 14 March, priced at £7.99.